Minor & Major
by ScoreCounter
Summary: Any relationship, platonic, romantic, or both at the same time in some cases, are never formed in one exact moment. However, what can be said that whilst some events are major, and others minor, all are equally important in deciding the outcome. [Souji/Yosuke Friendship focus, slowly morphing to romance later.]
1. Initialisation

The below is a derirative work based of the settings and characters in the Video Game, Persona 4. I claim no copyright, licencing or ownership.

 ** _Minor & Major_**

 _The alleged myth of "True Love" is rarely as simple as a single revelation. Sometimes, it takes a multitude of small moments, small realisations to even realise what is happening, and even more to be sure enough to speak the words, "Final Answer", so to speak.  
Then again, sometimes, leaps and bounds of progress in a relationship, perhaps romantic, perhaps platonic – and perhaps both, can be made by a smart person simply seizing a convenient opportunity to… shall we say, play a card out of turn._

Initialisation: Tenth Spark & Subliminal Heteronormativity

Souji tossed the bandage is his hand, staring at it. Ryotaro was home tonight, and usually the opportunity would be taken to talk to him, but Souji wasn't really in the mood right now. He sat, and stared, and nothing more.

 _"I just… want to be equal to you. So hit me, partner!"  
After a few moments phasing through expressions of confusion, bewilderment and thoughtfulness, Souji got into a readied stance and gestured towards himself.  
"Then let's get equal partner… I want everything you've got!"_

Regardless of any statement, he knew that both of them could tell – they were holding something back, both literally and figuratively. He ran his index finger along the end of the bandage, holding it carefully, as if dropping it would cause it to shatter. He sighed. A long, exhausted, happy sigh.  
"Yosuke…"  
He thought that he would be ready to leave Inaba by the end of the year. Nowhere to go, no-one to see…  
Yet, somehow, he'd managed to make better friends here than he had in the city.  
I mean, yeah, sure, he hadn't actually gone on a date with anyone in the town yet… conversely, in the city, the furthest he'd ever gotten was a few short stints with a few girls in his year. Yes, they were funny, sure, they were attractive, and they weren't exactly uninterested.

No, Souji was the problem. It never felt… right. He was mostly okay at trying to show affection (even if his bluntness didn't score him any points at times), but when it got down to actually giving the affection… it never felt right, as if he never got the right person, the one he could trust, regardless of happenstance.  
In all his years in the city, he hung out with these clusters of friends, sure, but they never really tried to interact with him outside of that.  
A matter of weeks in Inaba, and he already had what could only be described as a friendship group where he felt important. At first, he thought it was only his power, but as he thought about it, they were pretty close knit before the whole death and destruction thing began.  
And then there were his other classmates. There was Kou and Daisuke, who were pouring out their souls and internal dilemmas to him as much as each other. Then there was Ayane, who just seemed to never stop looking up to him. Literally and figuratively, mind. There was Nanako and Uncle Dojima… and even though Ryotaro was there even less often than his parents were at home, he still managed to make Souji seem like a member of the family.

"Souji? You in there?"  
He suddenly shifted in his seat at the noise. "Yeah…"  
"Mind if I come in?"  
"... Not at all…"  
His uncle slowly craned his neck around the door, a look of concern plastered across his features.  
"Hmm… I'm not sure how to say this, but… If you were involved in anything…"  
"Hm?"  
"You would tell me, right?"  
"… What makes you think that?"  
"… You've… got a bruise there."  
Souji froze for a moment, then laughed. It started as a slight snicker, which he tried to withhold, and then it slowly got worse, until he was forced to lie back on the sofa, clutching his stomach. 'I'm worse than Yukiko…'  
Dojima chuckled slightly. "Something funny?"  
"Me and a friend got into a fight… but it's not what you think…"

"Long story…" He twirled the bandage that was (miraculously) still in his hand. " _very_ long story…"  
Souji started laughing again. Slowly, he managed to calm down.  
"Hey… erm… mind if we talk for a bit?"  
"About what?"  
"Anything?"  
Dojima smirked, almost knowingly. "I'll wait downstairs."

The room was empty other than Souji once again.  
' _Yosuke... You'll always be my friend right? Hm… I'll have to ask him that someday…'_  
With that thought, Souji smiled wickedly. That could be one use for the bandage…  
He got up, went to his pack, and removed one of the small knives he used for cooking, and delicately used some nearby craft string… why that got sent with origami paper, there was no idea… to attach the knife and the bandage together. ' _Just to remind me…'_ Remembering Yosuke's comment about his 'stash' (which, by the way, turned out to be nothing more than a bundle of Yoshi and Jack Frost toys from his childhood), he tucked the package away at the bottom of his futon.

Yukiko… Kou… Daisuke… Ayane… Kanji now, as well… I suppose Teddie could count…

Oh, and Chie too…

But there was always Yosuke. That idiot who he pulled out of a trash can. The person who first explored the other world with him… They were practically doomed to be best friends from day one, right? Slowly, Souji made his way back downstairs to talk to his new family…  
It was odd… how somethings, initially repulsive and odd to think of, eventually turn oddly beautiful…

Then again… also, how things initially so peaceful quickly turns chaotic...  
Nothing is at it seems, huh? Nothing is ever as it seems, no?  
For example…

Slim hands glided across the keys, as tired eyes scanned the page. A multitude of musical instruments littered the teenagers room, from the almost expected guitar, to what was currently in use, the rather unexpected piano. Cornet and spinet, so to speak.  
"Yosuke-kun…"  
"If you've come to ask why I'm practicing the piano…"  
An affirmative sound from his mother.  
"…I don't really know either."  
 _Aren't teenage boys supposed to like the guitar? Pianos are more of an old man thing… or a girls thing? Why do I enjoy it so much?  
_ "Well, that's one thing, but also, it's getting late." With that, she walked off. She knew that there was nothing more that needed be said. If he wanted to play the instrument until the dawn hours of the morrow, then so be it.  
Carefully, he put the piano cover back down, still thinking. _I mean, I had that scrap with Souji earlier…_ A smirk at the thought… _And I hardly pay attention in class… And yet, I like the piano…_  
"Hmph. Damnit…" He rubbed his head… it really was getting late, wasn't it? He flinched as he drew his hand across one of the bruises. Yosuke would like to have thought that he got more hits on Souji than the other way around… then again, who know. It was like some sort of odd question. Who got more hits off? Souji, Yosuke, Neither, or the surprise fourth option…

"Heh. Who cares?"  
It was the first time that Yosuke had felt so free to take out his frustrations on something physical… feeling every one of his doubts and insecurities fall away, blow by blow… and all because of one sentence. _  
"Then let's get equal partner… I want everything you've got!"  
_ Souji… his recently installed best friend, his partner… he wasn't friends with his position, with his relationship with his father, or even with his power… he was friends with him. No frills, no fuss, just… honesty. He drew the curtains shut, and settled down, drowning himself in a sea of music… he had a friend now. An honest-to-god friend…

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.


	2. One

_Caution: Please bear in mind that this Fanfiction contains a LOT of personal headcanon, especially about the MC, and also about the events afterward. Also_ _ **bear**_ _in mind this fanfic is set in a universe where exclusively the events of Persona 4 occurred, and does not consider the additional events in Golden, nor Arena or A-Ultimax. Once again, I claim no copyright or ownership of any of the characters, locations or entities set forth, all of which belong to their respective owners._

 ** _Minor & Major_**

 _Sometimes, the reason you can never get a good relationship going has got nothing to do with attractiveness, but a simple lack of social aptitude. Alternatively: Souji is a bit of a dork, and has a bit of a jerk-ass conscience. Good thing he finds people who share that former trait a little._

One: Between The Points  
 _Song: Moby – Extreme Ways_

 _Extreme Ways are back again, extreme places I didn't know,  
I broke everything new again, Everything that I'd owned,  
I threw it out the windows, came along, Extreme ways I know  
Will part the colours of my sea, Perfect colour me…_

Another day had passed, and yet another day it was of… well, awkwardness.  
It had started before he'd even woken up. Or, rather, as he was waking up. First thing he does, as he's reaching up to disarm the alarm he had set up, was to accidentally overbalance, and flat-out drag the clock off of its perch.  
Oh, and then knock the table on his way down, causing the stack of envelopes to crash to the floor. That was bad enough, having to waste a good while of his limited morning straightening his room out again.

And then it kept going. He was irritated enough that he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going on the way to school. With a careening madman on a bicycle, not exactly the wisest decision. So naturally Yosuke crashed right into him, almost throwing the two of them into the river. He wasn't so antisocial as not to apologise for his lack of attention, and to help the other straighten up a bit, but then just spoke in half sentences for the rest of the morning.

Then, at lunchtime, he got accosted by yet another girl, a second year, to which he just stumbled over his sentences, which the girl thought was cute, even though Souji did not return the sentiment, and she thought that it was a sign that he was interested. After a few moments, in which he realised there was no way for him to be polite, he just went for the only method of speech he spoke in in the city – bluntness.  
"I'm sorry, but I wouldn't go on a date with you if you promised a dowry of the entire district of Shibuya."  
Well, awkward sounding bluntness, anyway. And of course she started spreading a rumor around which he could really do without – and by the end of the day he was too tired to do anything.

Well, almost. When Kou approached him and invited him to Basketball practice again, he actually thought that has day might perk up a bit. Until he got changed into sports kit, that is, reminding himself of his little accident earlier. Dark splotches covered his right side – and damnit, that was his throwing arm, too.

Thankfully those who actually bothered to turn up unanimously decided to cut him some slack – he still felt like he wasn't pulling his weight though. And then he had to get embarrassed even more so than before, as the girl from earlier ended up being at Aiya anyway, at his wits end, he politely excused himself from the conversation, a storm brewing in his eyes.  
 _Oh baby, Oh baby, then it fell apart, fell apart,  
Oh baby, Oh baby, like it always does, always does…_

"Damnit…"  
'And this is why I said that trying to be friendly never works!'  
Oh great, and now this thing had come back too… the small, internal voice that tormented him in the city – it had shut up for a while, but it was back with a bit of a vengeance now.  
'I mean, you were a loner in the city, with hundreds upon thousands of people, and you expect to be able to make friends in Back-Of-Nowhere, population 1028, conservative estimate?'  
"That's not how it works…" Souji started walking more panicked, as he realised he spoke out loud.  
'Yes it is, you fool. You have about as much personality as a stone, with the eyes and hair to match.'  
"Ugh…" Trust his conscience to make him feel even more depressed than usual…  
'And then you act as if you're a great leader, when you know that the only reason that they call you leader, is because you just happened to be lucky with getting that little 0 on your card.'  
Nothing to do with that. As long as he kept thinking that, he'd be fine. He'd be fine, damnit…  
'And the very moment this is all over, you'll be back on your lone-'

The voice trailed off as his phone rang in his pocket. He quickly checked the caller ID.  
"…Kanji?" He accepted the call. "Erm… hello?"  
"Er… Senpai?"  
Unsure of what to say, Souji simply gave an affirmative noise down the line.  
"Well… you see… my mom asked me to work on that origami project, and-"  
"On my way."  
"Huh? Oh… I mean… ah… see ya."  
Souji flipped the phone shut, as he quickly changed course to head towards Tatsumi Textiles. The voice he was being forced to listen to earlier spoke again, slightly quieter this time.  
'Huh… yanno, that's the first time that I've heard someone speak to you like that… odd.'  
Souji thought again upon the day he'd had. It was odd how the frustration he had felt not five minutes prior had suddenly tapered off. Yeah, sure he was awkward. Not a recluse, per se, just… unlearned in the ways of actually talking to people, to listening and being listened to…

It was something he could get used to. And, in the end, he had only one thing to respond to his conscience with.

'It doesn't matter if these people will be my friends in the future, for that is not the question. The question is to prove that I can do this, that I can forge these bonds, that I will… and if I don't, then so be it, for at least I'll have the memories of trying. And besides, you forget… this is not for me, this is for them. I'm not here to be a hero, I'm here to save lives. And if that is my only calling, then... so be it...'  
His conscience lingered for a few seconds, before uttering a single word.  
'Understood.'


	3. Two

_Please bear in mind that this writer does not care about real life chronological events, especially when referencing things._

 ** _Minor & Major_**

 _The words, "It's your fault we're in this mess" spring to mind, but you don't open your mouth out of respect. Otherwise, Souji gets irritated easily, but damn him to hell if he'll let it show._

Two: Intense Noise

 **The Night of the School Camping Trip – Pre-Dawn Morning**

The sounds of rustling filled the tent as one of the bodies within it shifted. He knew it was some time in the early morning by now, even if dawn was some way off. As an only child, he was far beyond being used to sleeping alone, and was slightly uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping in the same room as someone else. Yeah, sure it was a tent, but the same principle applies. Once he realised that there would only be his best friend being in the same tent, however, that certainly did a lot to calm his nerves. He could totally live with that. Even when Kanji came and decided to bunk down in the same tent, okay, fair enough, he could live with it.

But then, Yosuke just had to make that comment about Kanji, which set off the nerves in the first place, lest he inadvertently bring down the wrath (pronounced Wroth, by the way) of Morooka. But, no, instead he had to cause the oncoming of Chie and Yukiko, and boy if he didn't feel uncomfortable now. The sounds of breathing were an alien thing, and it was impossible to get used to. And he still wasn't really used to Chie's… tendencies, like her flair for the dramatic.

He rolled back around in an attempt to get to sleep, already feeling the ratty feeling of sleep deprivation coming on. The breathing, however, was still doing a good job of keeping him awake. The continuous, dysrhythmic cycling, looping quietly in the background, like two distant speakers interfering, making a piece of music you already don't like worse.

Hang on… distant? Souji focused a little more, and realised there were only two distinct sounds of breathing. Sleep-ridden breathing anyway. Which meant Yosuke was either really quiet – yeah, right – or…  
"…Yosuke?"  
"…Huh…?"  
Souji allowed himself to laugh, quietly. "Thought so. Can't sleep?" Yosuke merely responded with a nervous, affirmative grunt. "… Er… Is something…" There was no way that sentence was going to sound anything but wooden and dorky, so he tried another tack. "*Ahem*… You alright?"  
"…I feel so goddamn awkward, dude."  
"Why? If anyone's made this awkward now, it's the girls."  
"No… I mean… with Kanji."  
"Well, you could have tried being reasonable, sure."  
A glare. "I just… don't know how to act around him, yaknow? I mean, it's…"  
"Yosuke." The other male in the tent turned around to look at him, eyes wide open, confusion etched upon his face. Souji thought for a moment about best to put it before he realised that, as is often with him, blunt is the thing he's best. "Okay. Put it this way. Are either of us making moves on the girls right now?"  
"T-That's…"  
"Exactly the same as what you said, and you know it."  
"I-I guess… It's just… I've never thought about it before, and then we had… well, Kanji's shadow."  
"And then you had to think about it."  
Yosuke closed his eyes. "Yeah. I mean… I don't know how… well people… that way act."  
"People that way?"  
"You know… people who are… well…"  
"Gay?" Souji, blunt as always.  
After a few seconds internal deliberation, Yosuke just nodded, almost imperceptibly.  
Souji held his breath for a few seconds, then started chuckling quietly to himself.  
"P-Partner? Why are you… laughing?"  
"Nothing, Partner, just…" Another chuckle. "You people and your… categories!"  
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"  
"What do you think about it? Gay people, I mean?"  
"Well, I know it's not wrong…"  
"But…"  
"Well… I was taught that it wasn't really right, either."  
Souji lay there for a few seconds, thinking.  
"Partner?"  
"Okay, Yosuke, hear me out here, okay?"  
Yosuke shifted to a listening position, intrigued at what his partner had to say.  
"You remember how, when I came to Inaba, I was… you know… really awkward?"  
A considerate nod. Surprising, from Yosuke, but Souji took it.  
"Well… that wasn't just nerves. I've… kind of always been an awkward case. Like that girl the other day. One thing I heard from people talking about me once was… ah… 'he's as cute has hell, but just about more awkward.' To be perfectly honest, it was a bad insult, but…"  
"Wait. Souji… are you saying… you never had friends at where you used to be?"  
"Yosuke, I've never had friends, period."  
"So… wait… I was…"  
"Obviously. You were the first person to call me a friend, idiot."  
"… I'm… sorry."  
"Don't be. But, anyway… when you're alone, you get to see how… the world works. And… I saw some strange things. There were boys who insisted they swung towards themselves, so to speak, only to end up announcing their undying love for these really cute girls. And there were boys who insisted, insisted they were straight… and I'm sure a few of them were… but they ended up dating other men because… they clicked, they resounded with each other. I'm not saying that sexuality makes no difference, because it does – heck, it's part of your identity – but… well, sexual preference is just that… a preference."  
"…Wow, dude… that's just… I never thought of it that way."  
"… Annoyingly, some girls took that as me being openly bisexual. Which makes you more 'exotic', apparently."  
Yosuke couldn't help it. He laughed – mostly at the thought of Souji screwing up his face in disgust, but partly because of the odd timing of the statement. Before he knew it, Souji was quietly laughing with him. "Souji?"  
"Yeah?"  
"No matter what, you'll be my friend, okay?"  
"And no matter what, you'll be mine, Yosuke."  
Yosuke laughed, and relaxed back into the ground. Or, rather, he tried to, before he had Souji bearing down on him in a warm embrace. "P-Partner?!"  
Souji laughed to himself. "Yeah, say my name, Yosuke…"  
Slowly, yet slightly awkwardly, Yosuke returned the hug, still laughing.

After a while just gently hugging each other, they settled back into the ground, both more than ready to go to sleep, Souji spoke quietly.  
"Heteronormativity."  
"Huh?"  
"It's the belief that men and woman have their roles in society, and that they shouldn't be deviated from. I… never agreed with it. The idea always… annoyed me.  
"Oh… So that's why…"  
"Why I feel so strongly about it. So… Yosuke? Can you do one thing for me?"  
"…Depends."  
"Can you go and apologise to Kanji? I'd hate to see you two act awkward around each other because of some dumb argument…"  
"Oh… Well…" Yosuke looked defeated. "I… can't see why not."  
"I'll go with you."  
Yosuke smiled fully. "Thanks, Partner."  
And the laughing died down, and the warmth of happiness managed to block out the draft.  
And they slept, the low deep sounds of their breathing overriding the background clamour.

 **The following… Wait, Later The Same Day**

Before anyone else could react to the sounds of vomiting coming from upstream, Souji dove behind the two other boys, locked himself beneath the other boys' shoulders, and started to kick furiously, sending the trio downstream, the flow helping him along once the others feet lifted from the ground. However, before the other two could figure out what the silverette was doing, Kanji suddenly shifted his weight over in some sort of shock, flipping out of the way. Not that Souji was complaining – it freed up his right arm so that he could do some arm work – not to mention allow him to raise his head much more easily. "Damnit-" His head descended… "Yosuke…" … "Swim!"…  
Shortly after him saying this, he felt an arm wrapping over his shoulder, and the legs beside him starting to kick.  
Before either of them had noticed, they had managed to scramble onto the bank. Naturally, when they looked back, there was one very exhausted and annoyed looking Kanji. The two of them just smirked at him as he scrambled on to the bank.

He panted for a few seconds "You could have told me you were going to do that, Senpai…"  
"Ah… Yeah, I could've."  
Yosuke, having caught his breath… "Where the hell did you learn to swim like that?"  
"Swimming lessons, where else? I didn't have much to do…" Souji screwed his face up in pain slightly, before brightening up a little. "Anyway, don't you have something to say to Kanji?"  
Yosuke's face grew weary for a moment, before he hardened his expression to face Kanji. "Ah… Kanji… Souji and I were talking about what I said last night… and I'm…" Realising he didn't sound very sincere, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his posture…  
"…I shouldn't have said what I said."  
"…Damn straight."  
"I'm… sorry." Somehow, the pause made it seem more sincere.  
"…Thanks, Senpai."  
Leaving a few seconds for the moment to linger, Souji started to mentally think of how he wanted to spend the evening. "Right, now that we've done that… do you two mind not having a shower for a little longer?"  
The two boys looked at their leader questioningly.  
"Well, I was thinking of hitting Aiya. I'll pay?"  
Kanji was clearly carefully considering the offer, especially given his tofu preference. Yosuke, on the other hand, was already running in the distance to get changed.


End file.
